Feels Like the End

Chapter 2 Maddi

I looked inside the classroom, wondering if was at the right place. I looked down at my schedule and again at the classroom, if you could even call it that. There were no desks, instead rolling chairs that you would usually find in an office, and bean bag chairs. There were several pictures of famous musicians, both older ones and modern ones. The room was illuminated with several strings of fairy lights and various fake candles. I opened the door and was immediately greeted by a scent that I can no better describe than the word 'home'. I smiled and took a seat in the nearest chair, which was surprisingly more comfortable than it looked. I pulled out a book I had checked out from the public library a few days before. Before I had finished the chapter, the bell rang and the teacher entered the room.

"My name is Lorena Addicks. I will be your AP Music Theory teacher for this year. Before we begin, let's take roll. Zahara Aggelen?" She began.

"Psst, hey." A voice said from next to me. I turned to my left to see a boy with shaggy brown hair and sea blue eyes.

"Hi." I smiled at him. He flashed a from back.

"Are you Maddi Heemers? I suddenly recognized the voice as an old friend from Junior High. I smirked.

"I don't know. Are you Llewellyn James?" I answered teasingly. Llewellyn let out a small laugh. The teacher handed out an assignment for us to do. It had something to do with writing about ourselves using only song lyrics.

"Times really haven't changed. How are you, Maddi?"

"Oh, you mean besides the crumbling family issues, fatal cancer, and crippling depression? Pretty good." He gave me a shocked look. "I'm only joking." I said with a wink. I wasn't. "How have you been? It's been what? Three years?" I asked him, quickly changing the subject.

"Oh well, I've been doing pretty good. I mean the whole angsty teenager thing wasn'treally working out for me so I'm trying moving past that." He said with a shrug and a smile.

"I can see you've evolved from an Angsty Llewellyn to an Awkward Llew." I joked, using his old nickname. He laughed at my sad attempt at some humor. Llewellyn and I continued catching up since the last time we had seen each other. We talked about everything from my experience in gymnastics to his interest in Theater, which started during his Freshman year.

"You were in High School Musical?" I asked between laughs. "Please don't tell me you played Ryan." He smirked in response. "Oh my god, you did." Llewellyn had launched into a conversation about the show but I missed it, because that's when she walked in.

She was more than beautiful, she was exhilarating. Her golden honey hair complemented her dark skin, bouncing in curls around her head. She walked with confidence towards the teacher, her step bouncing almost as much as her hair. Suddenly, I realized she was walking towards me and Llewellyn. I gathered myself and tried to concentrate on my assignment, unaware that Llewellyn was still talking.

"Oh Maddi! This is Zara. Zara, this is Maddi." Llewellyn introduced. She smiled at me. Oh, her smile was something else. It was a smile that made joy look joyless. Up close, I could see her brown eyes, golden specks illuminating the joy she clearly reflected.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you." She said, holding out her hand. I took it, not surprised that it was one of the softest things I had ever felt. I did my best to keep the warmth in my cheeks down to a minimum.

"The pleasure is mine." I answered, trying my hardest to sound confident. She took a seat in an office chair in front of me and Llewellyn.

"So where are you from, Maddi?" Zara asked.

"I'm actually from around here." Zara raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Yeah, I was training with the Women's National Gymnastics Team, but things didn't work out."

"I see. Do you have any other interests?" I couldn't believe my ears. This goddess actually wanted to get to know me. Maybe I was taking this out of proportion. Maybe she was just being friendly.

"I play piano and I'm in choir. How about yourself?"

"I'm a drum major here as well as having my own band. I also play softball during the spring and summer."

"Really? My sister's on the softball team!" We had found some common ground. "Do you know her, Gabbi Heemers?"

"Yeah! Although, we don't really talk much, she's so busy with other sports and such."

"Yeah, that's really all the Heemers kids." Our conversation was cut short by the bell.

"Well, it was really nice to meet you, Maddi!" Zara beamed.

"Nice to meet you, too!" I replied.

"We should do it again. Maybe over coffee? On Saturday?" Her straight forwardness surprised me. This girl was asking me out. I smiled.

"Sure, I'd really like that," I answered. "What time?"

"Does 10 sound OK?"

"Perfect, let me give you my phone number." I quickly tapped my number into her phone and rushed off to my next class, where I received a text from Zara.

hey :) just wanted to make sure that you know that this saturday is a date, right? not me just hanging out with you?

I gave a small smile. And typed back a reply.

lol yeah, I know.

A moment later, my phone buzzed.

ok good because usually when i ask girls out on dates it turns out they think i'm just hanging out with them

I laughed at her response, trying to imagine all the failed dates Zara had been on.

lol no, I'm not naive!

Later that day, I met Gabbi next to her SUV she loves to call 'the Hulk'. Climbing in, she plugged her phone in and shuffled her favorite country playlist.

"How was your day?" She asked me, backing out of the parking spot.

"It was good," I answer. "I got asked out on a date."

"Ooohhh what's his name?"

"Her name is Zara." Gabbi laughed for some reason.

"Well that's too bad," Gabbi said. "I always expected she was a little bit gay."

"I'm a little bit gay." I retorted quietly. She hesitated before shooting another question at me.

"So, when is your date?" She asked with a smile. I smirked.

"Saturday morning, we're going out for coffee." We pulled into the driveway and got out of the Hulk. Gabbi helped me up the stairs and into the house. Once inside, I went to my room and collapsed on the bed. "Where's Ana Louise?" I called to Gabbi.

"She's at Star's ballet class." She answered back. I was just about to pass out when Gabbi yelled for me. "Uhh, Maddi?" I groaned in response. "Dad left something for you!" I quickly got up, my head spinning. I ignored it and walked as fast as I could to the kitchen. Contact with my Dad was rare, and I tried to appreciate every bit of it. Sitting on the island were two small boxes with two small cards. One was addressed to Troy and the other to me. I picked up the card and read it.

Glad to see you are home again :)

I sighed and opened the box, my eyes widening. I walked back down the hall, through the laundry room, and opened the garage door. Inside were two, shiny new cars. One was a 2016 Honda Civic and the other was a 2015 Honda Ridgeline. I pressed the button on my key and the Honda Civic lit up. I smiled, climbed in, and started the car.

"Lucky!" Gabbi exclaimed, climbing in next to me. "What are you gonna name her?" I looked at the light blue exterior.

"Sky." I responded.